Different
by l o c c l a i r e
Summary: Kathryn O'Kelley always knew she was different, she just never knew she wasn't the only one. X-Men: First Class, Banshee/OC
1. Chapter I

_Hey! New story, right? I'm pretty excited about it, I s'pose. Hopefully I didn't ruin the characters too bad. ^^;; Hey, did you also notice that completely lame summary? xD_

_Know that I am nowhere near a 1962 historian, so historical facts might not add up completely. I do A LOT of research though, so most facts should be right throughout the story. If things don't add up completely, but aren't big issues, for the sake of this story, we'll just pretend that it _is_ historically accurate. xD_

_I know a lot of people hate these, but I really have to do a disclaimer._

_Disclaimer: I do not own TIME magazine or anything associated with it, nor do I own the now defunct KGB. I don't own X-Men, either, though I wish I did..._

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><p><em>Chapter One<em>

_Mutant_

* * *

><p>I take pride in being an avid observer. I'm mostly on the sidelines, taking note of everyone and everything around me. Hey, I <em>like<em> to watch the people around me. It's a pretty weird quirk of mine, I know, but I'd rather watch than be watched. I'll also admit I tend to eavesdrop, but not a word of what I hear ever leaves my mouth.

Being an observer has its downsides, however. I don't have a legion of friends behind me. I used to be a part of a small clique at the start of high school, but we broke apart during the first half of tenth grade. Luckily, I've been left one very good friend, Candice, whom I tell _all _my secrets. On top of that, the only feeling strangers (or potential new 'friendies', as Candice puts it) usually experience anywhere near me is awkwardness. Well, I can't help it if my way of making friends (sitting in a comfortable silence with said new friend) differs from the rest of Earth's population.

It's nice living the quiet life, though. Not being wrapped up in a junk load of drama like most of the girls I went to high school with made those three years a heck of a lot more bearable.

"You just need to find a way to boost your self-confidence." Candice noted, leafing through the pages of the newest TIME magazine issue.

"I hate to break it to you, Candice, but that's not as easy as you seem to think it is." I said, leaning further backwards off the edge of my bed. Candice was sitting in the center of my bedroom floor, completely engrossed in some article.

"Ugh," Candice scoffed. "What a jerk, that Oleaginous Ev."

My brows knitted forward. My fingers could almost touch the floor.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, you know," Candice sang. "Irksome Dirkson? The senator?"

"No, actually, I don't know."

"Well, never mind, then." She spoke dryly, her voice very clearly layered with discontent. "Just another dumb politician. I have absolutely no idea how anyone believes his lies. They say he marinates his tonsils in honey."

"I highly doubt that."

"Who knows," Candice narrowed her eyes slyly, the corners of her lips turning up into a small smile. "Maybe he's like you."

I shot her my 'it'd-be-best-to-stop-there' look, but since I'd sent it to her a thousand times before, it didn't faze her at all. I then decided that letting all my blood pool in my head probably wasn't healthy and slid onto the floor. Candice still had that shit eating grin on her face and I was starting to get uncomfortable.

What Candice is referring to is the bane of my existence. It's the whole reason I am what I am: An observer. I observe not because it's in my nature to do so, but because I have closed off all other options to myself out of fear. You've probably heard this a thousand and one times, but I am _different_.

Unfortunately, I don't mean I'm different in the way I talk or dress or what music I listen to. How I wish I could.

"Think fast!"

All I saw was a green blur heading my way. Something in my mind clicked, and the next thing I knew, the green blur was on the other side of the room. It had been pushed onto a different path by some mysterious force, courtesy of your young narrator.

Candice laughed while I glared solidly at her.

"No matter how many times you do that, it never gets old!" She giggled, excitedly. "It's still as amazing as it was the first time. Hey, you haven't faded out in a while, why don't you try to now?"

I sat up, huffing.

"No! And, quite the contrary," I said. "It's scary."

"It is not," She stated, all matter-of-factly. "It's awesome. You're able to do things that no one else can. At least, we think no one else can."

"It is completely _not_ awesome, Candice," I argued. "If people knew I could do things that are _different_, they wouldn't accept me. I'd probably wind up on some lab table in a government facility!"

Candice throws a sad smile my way.

"I accept you."

"Yeah, well, you're Candice. You don't have anything against anyone except for politicians and yuppies."

She laughed again, nodding in agreement.

It was because of that, that she was my best friend. She didn't tell me off when I first told her I was different and she didn't run away when I later showed her my abilities. Miraculously, she's still here and my secret still remains a secret.

Candice's eyes widened when she glanced at her watch. Standing up in a hurry, she grabbed her coat and threw her copy of Time magazine my way.

"Sorry, I told my parents I'd be over for dinner in fifteen minutes."

Raising a brow, I asked, "Don't your parents live _an hour _away from here?"

"Yeah," She replied, guiltily. "You sure you can't, like, send me there with the blink of an eye?"

"I am one hundred percent sure I can't." I answered, dryly. I motioned towards the magazine. "Aren't you forgetting about your Irksome Dickson or whomever?"

"_Dirkson_, Kathryn, _Irksome Dirkson_," She reiterated, heading towards the door. "Oh! I almost forgot. You're still okay for our trip tomorrow, right?"

I had _almost _forgotten, too.

"Our trip?"

"Kathryn!" She whined, stomping a foot. "Our trip to the aquarium? You said you'd be able to go a week ago and don't say you're busy because I know you're not."

"Yeah, yeah," I waved her off, sliding the magazine my way. "I'll be ready at ten o'clock, just as you specified."

Candice smiled, knowingly.

"See you."

"Yeah."

Though it was not late, the thought of being in public for an extended period of time made me feel as if I could sleep a month away. That and I was extremely bored without Candice. I flipped through the pages of the magazine in the hopes that some glorious article about _different _people and their huge and generous contribution to society would pop up out of nowhere, but I had no such luck.

* * *

><p>"Where should we go next? How about seeing the sharks?" Candice suggested.<p>

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I'm completely content sitting here with my good friends, the anemone fish."

Standing up from the bench, Candice shot me a knowing smirk.

"You only want to stay in this room because no one else is here besides the two of us."

"Exactly," I agreed. "Now that that's been cleared up, I'd like to continue my staring contest with that small fellow over there." I gestured towards a small cluster of particularly small clownfish.

Candice sighed and shook her head a bit.

"I saw a sign for some pay phones in the last room we were in. I'm going to call Tommy and Betts. We'll see if they can come over and light up this rain parade."

I nodded my head in confirmation. Once she leaves, I feel a little nervous. Maybe I should have agreed to the shark idea. At least I wouldn't be alone. I clench the fabric of my dark brown skirt in my fists and begin to bounce my leg. I took to staring at the clownfish intently so as to calm myself. I was concentrating so hard on this small task that I didn't even notice when someone took the seat beside me.

"Hm."

I turned my head slowly, hoping that Candice was back already, but I was sorely mistaken. Instead of Candice, I found myself sitting next to a smiling red head. He was watching the clownfish, but not as intently as I had been only a moment ago. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I felt my face grow hot out of embarrassment. Finally, I got a word out.

"Hi."

That had to be the lamest thing I've ever heard myself say. My face must've looked like a giant tomato by now. He chuckled, turning his head to look my way.

"You seemed, uh, pretty interested in those clownfish."

I could shrivel up and die now.

"Y-yeah," I giggled nervously. "I guess I like them. If I had the time, I'd probably visit this place more often."

"So, we have something in common." He noted. "You like fish, so do I. Maybe we should meet up sometime, get something to eat and talk about it."

Smiling, I asked, "We won't be eating fish, will we?"

I'd thought that that was a terrible comeback, but he didn't seem to think so. He laughed and leaned closer.

"So is that a yes?" He asked.

I smiled.

"Nope," I chirped. I felt a little guilty, though. He seemed rather surprised at my quick rejection. "Sorry. I don't date, and if I did, I'd like to know him quite a lot longer than two minutes."

I stood up and grabbed my bag. He stood, too.

"Well, why don't we work on that?" He smiled, holding out his hand. "Sean Cassidy."

I nodded, shaking his hand.

"Kathryn O'Kelley."

It wasn't until that moment in time when I looked up to meet his eyes that I noticed just how tall he was. I felt tiny next to him. He had to be at least seven or eight inches taller than me.

"So, how about that date?"

"Nope, sorry."

"Oh, c'mon!"

I laughed at the face Sean made at my second rejection. Although I could tell he was messing around, he seemed truly scandalized. Even though I had no intention of going on a date with Sean the Giant, I had to admit that he was, in fact, quite attractive. Freckles dotted his entire face and his eyes, _oh, his eyes._ They had to be the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen.

"Sorry," I chuckled. "I've really got to find my friend. It was nice meeting you, Sean."

His parting smile was a weird mix of sad and sheepish.

On my way through one of the other rooms, I noticed two men. I couldn't see their faces, however, because they were facing the opposite direction. I slowed my pace. There was something …_different _about them. I shook my head. I'm just nervous, that's all. When I'm nervous, I jump to conclusions and make strange assumptions. Before I made it out of the room, though, the shorter man turned his head in my direction. He had blue eyes, too, but they weren't as bright as Sean's. His brown hair was neat and combed to one side and he dressed fairly well. He smiled. It was a kind smile, but in a way, it was kind of mischievous as well. It was as if he knew something I didn't.

I tried not to think about it as I made my way to the pay phones.

* * *

><p>"So," I began. "What ever happened to Tommy and Betty?"<p>

"I kind of met someone," she admitted, blushing. "He was in the booth next to me."

"Did you even call _anyone_?"

"Yes! Neither of them answered, though."

I shot her a look, silently asking whether or not that was the whole truth, part of it, or a complete lie. Her only answer was another smile. I rolled my eyes, looking around to see if our waitress, Dalia, was going to come back anytime soon. We had decided that, instead of going straight home after our eventful trip to the aquarium, we'd visit the shopping center and do some window shopping. Maybe we'd even do some real shopping. We'd decided, however, that food was going to be our first priority. It had been twenty five minutes since Dalia first sat us down in a booth right next to a large window giving us a good view of everyone outside and we were two customers of about six.

"Fine," I sighed, leaning back into my side of the booth. "What happened with this mystery man?"

"Well, first, his name is Dmitri—"

I leaned forward in an instant.

"He's a commie?" I whispered.

"No," Candice replied, sternly. "He's not. He didn't have even the slightest trace of an accent."

"You know most of them are trained not to have accents, right?" I raised a brow, crossing my arms on the table.

"Whatever," she said, waving my accusation off like it was nothing. "Anyway, after I'd been unsuccessful in contacting Tommy and Betts, I turned around just as he was beginning to walk away. His briefcase got caught on my bag and all of my things wound up on the floor."

"I'm getting bored, Candice." I deadpanned.

"Shut up!" She whined. "He kept saying sorry. Over and over again, he just wouldn't quit. Of course, he helped me pick up all of my things. After _that_ fiasco, he apologized again and I promised him it was no problem. I have to admit, he was really cute."

"And _then_?"

"We just started talking. About everything. Our lives and families, our favorite artists …and the weather."

"The weather? Really?"

"I know," She admitted, looking down shyly. "It just happened. It was so easy to talk to him."

"You said he helped you pick up _everything_ that fell out of your bag?"

"Yeah, why?"

I raised a brow again, and asked, "You've checked to see if anything is missing, right?"

"Would you stop going on about that?"

Dalia finally showed up about half a minute later and took our orders. Her dislike of her job was blatantly obvious through her monotone voice and dead eyes. I wondered whether or not her very late service was her way of sticking it to the man. Perhaps she was hoping to get fired after enough complaints from her customers. She didn't even ask what we wanted to drink.

"So what about you?" Candice asked, looking up from rummaging through her bag. "Who was that man?"

My brows knitted together out of confusion.

"What man?"

"The one who sent a smile to you at the aquarium," she answered, smiling herself. "I saw him from the room over."

"Oh, him," I shrugged, rubbing my neck. "I don't know him."

Now, it was Candice's turn to be vexed.

"What do you mean you don't know him? So he just smiled at you for no reason?"

"Well, I'm sure he had a reason," I said, leaning back into my seat again. "But, I still don't know him. Or maybe he just smiles at everyone he makes eye contact with, who knows?"

"Well, okay then."

Candice began rummaging around in her bag again when I let my mind wander off a bit. I thought back to our trip at the aquarium. It certainly had been more eventful than I'd planned on it being. Sean was a pretty interesting character and I wondered if I'd ever see him again. Considering I'm not planning on going back to the aquarium any time soon, probably not.

Those two men were a topic I really didn't want to dwell on, but I couldn't help myself. They seemed _different_. My kind of different. Yet, as I said before, I had to simply scratch that up to my nervousness at the time. There was no way, right? Although I'd been a little freaked out at the smiling man, I couldn't help but think that he'd be one of the few people I'd be able to sit in a comfortable silence with. In my mind, I pictured him as someone who could glance at a person and know everything about them. Of course, that wasn't possible.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a frustrated groan. I looked at Candice in confusion when she raised her head from her bag.

"What?" I asked.

"Well," She began, giggling nervously. "It's just… my wallet is missing."

I stared at her and she continued to smile back at me, sheepishly.

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><p>It took a night like tonight to remind me how much I loved the town when the sun wasn't out. It was a clear night, no clouds. There were few stars, however. There were quite a number of young couples out, mostly coming in and out of diners and the cinema. Neon lights on signs made everything a bit more colorful.<p>

Candice had left me about a half an hour ago, still searching for her wallet. We'd gone back to the aquarium to see if she'd dropped or left it somewhere or if someone had found it and turned it in to the front desk, but we were met with no such luck. She kept checking her bag every five minutes just to see whether or not she'd missed it in a pocket or something. I bet she was just hoping it'd appear out of thin air.

"I told you he was a commie." I'd said to her. "Probably KGB. There's going to be another Candice Waller somewhere in the country and you'll be tried for all her federal offenses."

I was answered with a hard punch to the shoulder.

Once again, I was pulled out of my thoughts, but this time, it wasn't a tall red head or my best friend. It was a feeling. The feeling of being watched. It wasn't particularly intimidating, I'll admit, but I still felt like I was being watched. Lamely, I took a pen out of my bag and subtly dropped it on the ground in front of me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to pick it up, glancing forward for barely a second to see who was watching me. I almost had a heart attack.

It was the two men from the aquarium! My heart pounding in my chest, I started forward again, my pace quite a bit faster than it had been before I dropped the pen. Why were they following me? _Were _they following me? Perhaps it was just a coincidence. I decided to make a quick turn into one of the alleyways. It wasn't the greatest idea, I'll admit, but it was a shortcut home _and_ it would show me whether or not they were really following me.

The second they turned into the alleyway, I 'faded' as Candice had put it yesterday. I didn't move an inch after I'd faded. I just watched them. They had stopped, too, and were conversing quietly. The taller man, now that I got to see him, had dark brown hair and light blue eyes. There was something about the taller man that made me a little more timid. I'd never looked him straight in the eyes, yet I could still tell he'd seen a lot in his lifetime.

They stopped talking, and looked forward. They didn't move however. I began to back up in order to get closer to the other end of the alleyway, not wanting to be in their presence any longer. The shorter man brought his hand up to his temple and the moment later, I got the scare of my life.

_There is no need to hide, Kathryn. _An English accented voice in my _head _assured me. _We're not here to harm you._

A lump formed in my throat and it became hard to breathe. What the _hell _was that? How did they do that?

_We're like you, Kathryn. We're _different_._

I really didn't want to become visible again, but the thought of meeting someone my kind of _different,_ was too tempting. It felt a little strange, but I thought '_Alright.' _in reply. I figured he wasn't able to hear me, but when the shorter man smiled in some sense of encouragement, I decided to take a few steps towards them and show myself.

I smiled timidly at the two men, waiting for either of them to speak. The shorter man walked forward, extending his hand. Smiling, he introduced himself.

"Charles Xavier." He said. So, he was the one with the ability to communicate with other minds. Shaking his hand, I smiled weakly.

"Kathryn O'Kelley."

The other man stepped forward and we shook hands as he introduced himself with a tight lipped smile and a slight nod of the head.

"Erik Lehnsherr."

"So, you're both like me?" I asked. "You're ...different?"

"Yes." Charles confirmed.

"So _you_ can communicate with minds?"

"Communicate with them, read them," Charles grinned. "Among other things."

I nodded, a little vexed over the last part and looked to Erik.

"And you?" I wondered, shyly. "What are you capable of?"

I saw the slightest smirk on Erik's face and my brows knitted together. Erik extended his arm and I felt a small tug on my wrist. My arm was being pulled up by a charm bracelet my mother had given me when I was small. I stared in wonder for only a few seconds before my arm dropped back to my side as Erik's did.

"Cool." I murmured.

"Yes, well we didn't just find you to exchange our abilities with one another," Charles began. "We have a preposition for you, Kathryn."

I raised a brow, my heart beginning to beat faster.

"What is it?"

"How would you like to have a job where you can work with others who are different like you?" he asked. "You'll be among friends and we'll work on controlling your abilities."

Not turning invisible randomly? Why, that'd be just fine! Though this _preposition _sounded nice, I couldn't help but be a tiny bit suspicious. Perhaps they work for the government? Perhaps I'll wind up on a lab table, dissected and then thrown out like garbage?

_I can _assure_ you that won't_ _happen._

I raised my head to find Charles looking completely serious. I had to admit I was actually hoping that these two were legitimately here to help and I was very glad that that was, in fact, the case. Hesitantly, but not without a small smile, I agreed to go with them.


	2. Chapter II

_Chapter Two_

_Those Who Are Held In High Esteem_

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><p>My hands were shaking terribly when I unlocked the door to my apartment. My heart pounding in my chest, I opened the door and entered my small home, Charles and Erik trailing in slowly behind me.<p>

"How lovely." Charles chimed, looking around in interest.

I closed the front door and thanked him quietly. I only thanked him out of politeness, though. The place was embarrassing. It was so small. I felt my face grow warm. I hadn't been thinking straight when I invited the two inside. If I hadn't been so high on excitement and nervousness, the thought of letting anyone besides Candice into my home wouldn't have even crossed my mind.

On the short walk here, Charles had explained more about why he and Erik were recruiting mutants. He spoke of a mutant named Sebastian Shaw who was very much up to no good at all. Apparently, this Shaw person had killed an officer in the United States Army and was trying to get American nuclear devices placed around the globe.

It was scary, thinking about what he could be planning to use those bombs for.

Of course, it's easy to guess what he's planning on using them for, but I didn't want to think about that.

Wringing my hands together, I found my voice again.

"Um," I began lamely. "I'm just going to grab some things quickly and we'll be out of here."

Charles smiled again and nodded. I looked to Erik and when his eyes caught mine, I broke the connection quickly and walked down the hall into my room. There was just something about him that made me more nervous than I already was. He had never been hostile towards me in any way, yet I couldn't find it in me to not be intimidated by him.

I quickly grabbed a bag out of my closet and packed only the things I felt I couldn't live without. I didn't know how long I'd be away, so I packed a number of outfits. I packed all of my 'hygiene equipment' and a few trinkets and pictures. I also grabbed a few pens and a notebook incase the need to jot down my thoughts or to doodle hit me.

I looked around my dimly lit room to see if there was anything else I felt like taking with me. My eyes locked onto the egg shell colored phone on my bedside table and my mind was instantly filled with thoughts of Candice. Sitting on my bed, I let out a long sigh. I wondered if I should call her. I really wanted to talk to her, to tell her about everything that had happened so far. I wanted her input. I wanted to know if leaving with Charles and Erik was the best decision.

How could I not leave with them, though? I'd spent my entire life thinking I was the only one who was different in the world. Of course, I'd always hoped that I wasn't the only one, but, up until now, I'd never met or heard about anyone who was also my kind of different. The thought of meeting not just one or two other mutants, but a whole group of them was amazing. I could never pass this up. This was the chance of a lifetime for someone like me.

My hand twitched, Candice's number ready to be dialed.

I clenched my fists. This was something I had to do. I could call and explain everything to her later. If I called her now, we'd have to talk for hours before neither of us had anything else to say and I was short on time at the moment.

Candice would have to understand.

I stood up, grabbed my bag and headed back into the living room where Charles and Erik were waiting for me.

"Ready to leave?" Charles asked, gesturing towards the door.

I nodded my head in response, and with a tight-lipped smile, I lead the two of them out of my humble abode. I slowed my pace when we got outside, however, opting to walk behind them as I had absolutely no idea where we were headed.

"How long will it take us to get to headquarters?" I wondered aloud, shivering in the cool night air.

"About an hour." Charles responded. "The facility we're in is just outside of Richmond, Virginia."

"Okay." I mumbled in answer.

"I hope you don't mind sharing the back seat," Charles added with a small smile. "It shouldn't be too much of a problem; If I remember correctly, you two have already met."

My brows knitted together in confusion. I tilted my head at Charles and all I got in answer was a wider smile.

Candice? I wondered. No, that's not possible, she's not a mutant.

Who else do I know?

My mind was running a mile a minute as I noticed a lone vehicle parked in front of a closed diner. I could barely make out the silhouette of someone sitting in the back. My heart was pounding against my rib out of nervousness. Then, I felt guilt pour into my system. Whoever this was, they'd been sitting out here by themselves for quite some time.

_If only I had moved a little faster. _I thought. _They'll probably be pissed at me for taking so much time to get packed. _

Once we were only a few steps away from the car, I tried to see who was in the back, but whoever it was, was sitting on the opposite side of the car and all I saw were a pair of lanky legs.

"Kathryn?" Charles' voice brought me out of my train of thought. I turned to him as he gave me a small smile and gestured towards my bag. "Do you mind? I'll put it in the trunk for you."

"Oh, not at all," I stammered out, handing him my bag. "Thank you."

As Charles placed my bag in the trunk of the car, Erik got into the passenger seat. Before he closed the door, however, I heard a familiar voice from the back. I couldn't make out what he said, but his face instantly popped up in my mind.

Sean.

* * *

><p>The ride to headquarters seemed to just drag on and on. I vaguely remember Charles saying something about how long the trip would take, but I was off in space at the time and couldn't remember what he'd said.<p>

Not only did it seem terribly long, but it seemed incredibly awkward (for me at least). Sean, however, had seemed quite delighted when I sat myself beside him in the back seat.

"You're a mutant, too?" He'd asked, an amused grin reaching all the way up to his blue eyes. "I knew there was something I _especially _liked about you."

I just sent him a look, silently attempting to tell him that I wasn't really in the mood to talk to him right now, but my attempts proved futile. It didn't take long to find out that Sean was particularly talkative and, at times, a little perverted, but I guess he was okay.

After about fifteen minutes, he started to ask a lot of questions. Some were directed at Charles and Erik, but he mostly asked me questions about myself. At first, I wasn't really comfortable answering all of his questions, but they were pretty simple so I forced myself to.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"What's your birthday?"

"September 3rd."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Green."

And then, it turned into Twenty Questions. He'd ask a question, I'd answer and then ask one back. Within the hour, I think I really warmed up to Sean. It was strange to find myself comfortable around someone I'd only just met, but then again, it's probably a good thing. Who knows how long we'll be in each other's company? We might as well get to know each other right away.

Another half-hour passed and the two of us had quieted down, too exhausted to talk anymore. It had to be past midnight by now. I'm sure Erik was glad, however, I think he was a little irritated with our constant chatter.

Now, the only sound was the soft music coming from the radio. I had recognized the song as it was on a record Candice almost constantly played whenever I'd visit her home. "Sherry" by The Four Seasons, if I remember correctly.

I tried not to think about Candice, but it was hard. I wasn't going to be able to see my best friend for however long this adventure was going to take. Hopefully, I'd be able to find a way to call her or send her a letter or something, but the fact that we were traveling to a government facility gave me little hope. I figured security would be tight. If they even let me send a letter, some agent would probably have to read it first and then black out whatever parts they deemed 'too informative'.

I sighed, leaning into the car door. After getting to know Sean better, I was a little more excited to meet the other mutants, but I knew this was going to be a trying time for me. Little to no contact with my best friend, a war looming over our heads and learning (or attempting to learn) to control my abilities were all things I was going to have to face in the coming week. This was definitely not going to be all fun and games.

It was probably another forty or so minutes before we reached headquarters. Or, at least that's how long it had felt like. I'd been drifting in between dream land and consciousness for quite some time before our trip ended.

I wasn't tired anymore when I stepped out of the car and set eyes on headquarters for the first time. Needless to say, the place was massive. There was little decoration and the design was sleek. If I hadn't known already, this place most definitely would've been pegged as government operated in my mind. It just had that government 'vibe' radiating off of it, you know?

I felt my legs grow a little weak and I became nervous again as Charles handed Sean and I our bags. This massive, intimidating building not only held a whole group of mutants I'd have to work with for however long this was going to take, but there were government agents all over the place.

I wondered if we'd even be meeting the others tonight, still. It was fairly late. I figured everyone would be asleep at this time. I found myself beginning to be pulled into space land, but I was quickly brought back down to Earth by Charles' voice.

"Come along now, darling," he said, chuckling. "We don't want to stand outside all night, now do we?"

No we don't. I thought. It was chilly outside.

Sean and I followed Charles and Erik into headquarters slowly. Sean nudged my arm with his elbow and grinned at me sleepily.

"So, did that count as our first date?" He wondered, still smiling.

I rolled my eyes, but my face instantly heated up.

"T-That was only the getting to know each other part," I told him, smiling. "So, no, our first date has not occurred, yet."

"Yet?" He raised his brows, amused. "So there's still hope for me?"

I groaned, embarrassed, and walked a little faster to catch up with Erik and Charles, much to Sean's further amusement.

"It's quite late," Charles said as we entered the facility. "I'm not sure any of the others are still up. We've all had a long day, anyway. Why don't I show you to your rooms and you can meet everyone in the morning?"

"That sounds like a great idea." I answered, relieved at the proposal of a warm bed and sleep.

I was actually quite surprised when I stepped into my room. I had been expecting the rooms to be about as welcoming as the exterior of headquarters (as in: not at all welcoming) but, for once, luck was on my side. The rooms were nice. They had that 'warm and homey' feeling. Of course, nothing compared to home, but the room definitely came in at a close second.

Currently, I was off in space again, staring at the ceiling from my bed. It had been about an hour since Charles had shown me Sean and I our rooms (his was across from mine and a few doors further down the hall) and even though I was dead tired, I couldn't fall asleep. At first, I decided to explore my room a bit. I almost had a heart attack when I found a connected bathroom. I even found it in myself to unpack everything. After my small adventure, I'd tried to sit down and write a little, but I was unable to successfully get my thoughts down on to the paper. I hadn't even been here for two hours and my trash bin was already half full with little crumpled up balls of paper.

I started to think about tomorrow. It felt strange knowing that I was so close to meeting other mutants. I giggled excitedly, wondering what they'd be like. I hoped that we would all be able to get along. It would sure make things a bit more difficult if we didn't.

On top of my excitement, however, I was terrified. Sure, we were all in the same boat here, but I was still meeting new people. And as you might've noticed, people aren't exactly my forte. Tomorrow morning, the thought of locking and barricading my door would probably cross my mind one or many times, but I would just have to suck it up and force myself to get through tomorrow.

No amount of embarrassment I could possibly endure tomorrow would take away from the feeling of finally not being the only different one in the world.

* * *

><p>When I woke up that morning, I practically jumped out of bed. I paced around the room for a good fifteen minutes, thoughts running around in my head a mile a minute.<p>

What should I say?

How exactly should I introduce myself?

What will they think of me?

Then I stopped.

This wasn't a business meeting or a blind date, so why was I treating it as such? I was completely over-reacting. I needed to take a deep breath and calm myself.

Get dressed and take care of yourself, first. I thought. Then you can worry about everything else.

So I did just that. I brushed all of the kinks out of my hair and brushed my teeth. Then I threw on some black tights and a blue, yellow and green plaid shift. After that, I simply just slipped on my old, worn out sneakers and that was that. I shook my head when I looked at myself in the mirror. If Candice were here to see me pair my old sneakers with my more dressy attire, she probably would have had a heart attack.

I started to pace around my room again. I just couldn't sit down and I was too scared to leave my room. I'd peaked out of the doorway some time ago in the hopes that the coast would be clear and I'd gather up enough courage to force myself out of my sanctuary, but when I saw a few men in black down the hallway, I slammed the door shut and laughed nervously on the way back to my bed. So much for being inconspicuous.

I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest. Was I being completely ridiculous? Of course I was, I was so pathetically scared (for no reason at all, to be honest) that I couldn't even leave my room. Sure, I could turn invisible and explore headquarters a bit, but I didn't know if I would be able to control it for so long.

Perhaps they were waiting for me? I felt my face grow warm. What if they were? No, they couldn't be. I only knew how to get to one place in this whole place, and that was the entrance. Charles wouldn't expect me to know where to go. Would he?

My question was answered with a knock on the door.

To my surprise, I didn't have a panic or heart attack, nor did my stomach fill with butterflies. I almost giggled on the way over to the door out of excitement, though. Perhaps my excitement had outgrown my nervousness sometime in the last hour or so. Or, maybe that need to laugh really was nervousness. Whatever it was, I opened the door. I was surprised when I was not met with Charles or even Erik, but a pretty, blonde, grey-eyed girl.

My self-esteem dropped about 99.9% right there and then.

She smiled brightly and held out her hand. I smiled as best I could and shook her hand.

"You must be Kathryn, right?" She asked.

"Yes," I nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Yes, I am. And you are…?"

"Raven," She answered. "Raven Darkholme. I'm Charles' sister."

"Charles?" I blinked, vexed. "You're his sister?"

"Well, I'm his adopted sister." She clarified.

I really shouldn't have asked, but I couldn't help myself. I looked around nervously before looking back to Raven.

"So are you," I paused, lamely. "You know…"

To my surprise, she chuckled.

"Mutant? Yes."

I laughed, too.

"I'm sorry, it's just so surreal," I said. "To actually be meeting other mutants—"

"I know the feeling," she said. "So, do you want to meet the others?"

I found myself quite content around Raven, even though there were MIBs all over the place. She reminded me a bit of Candice with how much she liked to talk. We talked about everything. Fashion and Charles were two of Raven's favorite topics. We even exchanged our favorite musicians.

She also gave me a quick tour of the place or, well, pointed out anything of importance on the way to our destination. Although the interior of HQ was still very business-like and cold, the place really was nice. Everything was clean. I could practically see my reflection in the floor and there were no smudges on the large windows that let in ample amounts of sunlight.

Take away all the MIBs and I might actually learn to feel comfortable in this place.

"I don't think everyone is up, yet," Raven said as we neared the end of a corridor. "We're only missing two, though. At least, we were when I left."

I nodded, trying to calm myself. A lump had formed in my throat while she spoke. I was only a few moments away from meeting the other mutants. I smiled, excitedly.

It seemed that excitement and nervousness were the only two emotions I was going to experience today.

I slowed my pace so I could walk behind Raven (rather than next to her) when we entered the room which I soon found out to be a small cafeteria. The room was empty, however, except for one table where two men and a woman sat. The woman, who seemed rather small in stature, turned around and waved at us.

"Hey!" She greeted.

The two men looked up, not having noticed us beforehand.

"I brought our new friend," Raven chimed. "Introduction time."

I smiled at everyone, not having the guts to say anything. I was glad (but felt even more lame) when Raven took care of everything for me.

"Everyone, this is Kathryn." She said. "Kathryn, this is Angel, Darwin and Hank."

I managed a small 'Hello' and exchanged a few words with the three of them as I shook each of their hands. Angel seemed nice enough; at least that was my first impression. Darwin seemed pretty outgoing and I could tell that he was a few years older than any of us here. Hank was fairly nice, too, but he seemed a little shy. Well, at least I have something in common with someone.

Raven and I sat down at the table to socialize with the others. I looked around a saw a counter full of different breakfast foods and drinks and I wondered if they all had eaten already or if they were waiting for the other two. I looked around, awkwardly, not knowing if I should try to talk to anyone. I got a little caught up in space land, wondering about what the others were capable of. I thought it'd be cool if anyone could fly. That would certainly be interesting to watch.

"So, where're you from, Kathryn?"

I looked up when I recognized Darwin's voice. All four of them were looking at me, waiting for an answer. I almost lost my voice.

"About an hour south or so," I answered. "It's a little town called Wakefield. I've lived there my whole life."

It seemed as if Raven was about to say something, but she was interrupted before she could even start.

"Good morning, everyone!"

I turned in my chair to see Sean approaching with that same grin that never seemed to leave his face. He patted me on the shoulder as he got to the table and sat down in the chair directly to my right.

"Good morning, Kathryn."

"You two know each other?" Darwin asked, his brows knitting together in confusion.

We answered in unison.

"We're best friends."

"Not really."

I shot Sean an irritated look and crossed my arms over my chest.

"That's right, Charles mentioned you two seemed pretty friendly on your trip here last night." She chuckled.

I groaned rubbing my temples.

"Okay, we're friends." I admitted, looking to Sean and then back to Raven. "I guess? I don't know; We've only known each other since yesterday."

"We met at an aquarium." Sean added, all matter-of-factly. "We're both fish lovers."

"He also asked me out on a date." I said, nonchalantly.

Raven let out a loud laugh as Angel let out high-pitched 'Aw.'

"Did you say yes?" Angel asked, grinning.

"What? No way," I answered, glancing at Sean from the corner of my eye. "I had never even met him before."

"She told me she didn't date." Sean admitted sheepishly.

"Oh really?" Darwin wondered, leaning forward in his chair, grinning. "Now, did you say that because that's the truth or did you say that to get rid of him? I could understand if you just wanted to get rid of him."

Everyone (save Sean, of course) laughed.

"Hey," Sean whined, pretending to look sad. "That's not nice."

We calmed down a bit after that and broke off into separate conversations. Darwin and Sean were talking about baseball, something I didn't exactly follow. Angel and Raven had taken to asking me a lot of the same questions Sean had asked me last night during the drive here. Hank spent his time reading the newspaper. Sometimes he would ask me questions whenever he heard something especially interesting. This happened once when I mentioned my interest in Shakespearean comedy.

After some time, the last of our small group finally showed up. I greeted him as I'd greeted everyone else except for Sean. We shook hands and introduced ourselves.

"Alex." He said, with only a small smile.

I nodded and returned the smile.

"Kathryn."

It was then when everyone finally got something to eat. So, they _had_ been waiting for everyone to get there. I had figured that that was the case, but I'd never asked to be sure.

We spent breakfast almost the same way we had spent our time before Alex showed up. Alex, Darwin and Sean had their own conversation going and Angel, Raven, Hank and I had ours. Raven and Angel weren't interviewing me anymore, so I was free to not talk while Hank took a bigger role in the conversation this time around.

I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, but I didn't pay much attention to their conversations. I just thought and then day dreamed and then went back to thinking. I wondered about home. I couldn't remember if I had turned off all the lights before I left, nor could I remember locking the door. _Hopefully_everything would still be in one piece when I got back. It's not like I live in a bad neighborhood, but you never know.

Thinking about home made me think about Candice. I really shouldn't have just left like that. I should've at least left a note or something. I could've left it on the kitchen counter in case she found a way inside. I mean, if I left the door unlocked, she would be sure to go inside and have a look around for any clues as to where I might be. I could've explained everything in a simple, little note. It wouldn't make everything completely fine and dandy, but a note would be better than leaving her completely in the dark.

Perhaps I would ask Raven or Angel if there was a phone somewhere around here I could get to later. If they didn't know, then I'd probably have to ask one of the MIBs which is something I really, _really_ didn't want to do. Or maybe I'll see Charles or even Erik sometime soon and I'll be able to ask them. I wasn't as ready to ask Erik about a mere phone call as I was ready to ask Raven, Angel or Charles, but in my mind, Erik was a definite step above any of the MIBs.

I sighed. I had no idea what I was even going to say to Candice. I know she'll understand in the long run, but considering I disappeared without a single word, she'll probably be a little frustrated with me for quite some time. I won't blame her, though. If she disappeared off the face of the planet without at least a 'Good bye', I'd be mad at her for months.

Speaking of _months._We won't be stuck in this 'almost-war' for months, will we? I mean, with what we're doing with this Shaw guy, that's not supposed to last too long. We just go in there, take them out, and leave.

Oh, who am I kidding? It won't be that simple. Things like this never are.

Hopefully we'll be done with this in _at the most_, a month. Unless Shaw actually manages to start World War III (and if he does, Heavens save us), we really shouldn't need more than a month.

This whole situation just irritates me so much.

I'm so happy over meeting other mutants. I've probably said or thought that at least a hundred times now, because it's absolutely correct. This is, as I've said before, the chance of a lifetime for someone like me. Yet, it would be so much less stressful if we didn't have some insane mutant, running all over the world and corrupting high standing military officials in order to start a nuclear war. I mean, come on! _A war._

That's what we're trying to stop.

A _Third_ World War.

A _Nuclear_Third World War.

Just thinking about that last one makes chills run up my spine.

* * *

><p><em>I CANNOT express how flattered and happy I am at the reaction to the first chapter. You guys are so amazing. I can't thank you all enough. Hopefully I don't mess this up. xD Thank you so much to all the reviewers and to all of you who added this story as a favorite andor signed up for alerts. *heart*_

_Hopefully this didn't seem too fast paced. It seemed that way to me, though, but I couldn't figure out a good way to say what I wanted to and slow it down at the same time. This chapter was just really hard to type out._

_Thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter III

_Chapter Three_

_Code Names and Sieges_

* * *

><p>The rest of the day went by rather slowly. Hours ago, we had moved from that small cafeteria into a lovely little game room. There was a pinball machine in one corner, several tables in another corner and a bar (mostly filled with non-alcoholic drinks and junk food) in a third corner. In the middle of the room, there was a coffee table surrounded by two couches and two chairs. There was even a small aquarium and a juke box lining one of the walls.<p>

I especially liked the fact that there were two large windows on either side of the room.

It was dark outside now, and we were all sitting around the coffee table. I'd been acting pathetic again when we were all taking our seats around the table. I couldn't figure out where to sit, so when there were no more seats left, I was stuck standing there, looking like a fool. No one in particular noticed this, however, so I walked over to one of the tables to grab an extra chair.

When I turned around, Sean was up and walking my way.

"You can take my seat." He said with a smile, taking the chair from me. I shot him a strange look, but smiled in gratitude nonetheless.

"Thanks." I said, walking back to the rest of the group. I sat down where Sean had been sitting, in between Darwin and Alex. Sean then set the extra chair down between Alex and I and sat down.

"We should have codenames." Raven declared, grinning. "We're government agents now, we should have codenames."

I glanced around, trying to figure out what everyone else was thinking. _What I'd give to be Charles right now._I didn't really like the whole idea of codenames, to be honest. Yes, I suppose we are government agents now, but codenames seemed to be pushing it.

"I want to be called Mystique." Raven said.

"Damn," Sean grinned. "I wanted to be Myst_ique._"

"Well, too bad," Raven smirked back. My heart almost jumped straight out of my mouth at what she did, next. One second, Raven was sitting next to me, the next, a second Sean took her place. "Besides, I'm way more mysterious than you."

Sean's clone looked around for a while, smirking, before Raven morphed back into her original self.

That had to be the scariest and coolest thing I'd ever seen in my whole lifetime.

Raven nodded to me and I looked around nervously. Heck if I knew what my codename should be. I thought back to my first lessons in Latin when I was in middle school. There was one word I could always remember the definition for, but not the actual word, so in an effort to help me remember, my mother turned it into a nickname for me. It was kind of lame, and not anywhere near as magnificent as Mystique, but I couldn't think of anything else.

"Spectra." I mumbled, wringing my hands together anxiously.

"Wanna show us what you can do?" Sean asked, his brow raised and his mouth set in a large grin. I sighed, but gained a small amount of confidence when Raven smiled at me, encouragingly. I stood up, feeling like I was back in school, giving a presentation in front of the class. I looked around the room, searching for something sufficient to use.

"Well, first, I can do this."

I held out my hand towards a table in the back of the room. This was going to make a mess, but for some reason, I didn't really mind. I made a motion to push something with my hand. Books, notebooks and writing utensils flew off the table, slamming into the wall and the window right next to it. At the same time, the table jerked forward, in the direction the books had been thrown, as did the chairs surrounding it.

I heard words of praise, a few claps and a low whistle from who I guessed was Sean. I felt my cheeks grow warm again.

"I can also do this."

I turned back to the group and faded. I got a lot of the same reactions that Raven had gotten when she turned into Sean. Double-takes, mostly, and raised brows accompanied by grins. Raven even laughed, clapping a few times.

I showed myself again, and sat back down. I couldn't help but admit that I felt a little bit more confident. Perhaps it was because someone besides Candice finally knew about my abilities. And not just one person, but a whole group now knew what I could do. To add on to that, that same group could also do amazing things, just like myself.

It felt good.

I smiled and said, "Darwin, you next."

"Alright," he stood up, grinning. "Well, Darwin is already a nickname and it kind of fits. Adapt to survive and all. Check this out."

We all turned in our seats, watching him as he casually strolled over to the small aquarium with a smirk on his face. He placed his hands on either side of the aquarium and dipped his head into the aquarium. For a second, I wondered what exactly he was doing, because it seemed kind of odd to put your head into an aquarium, but my questions were answered when gills suddenly appeared on the side of his face. I laughed when he turned his head towards us and breathed in through his gills.

He shook his head when he stood back up, his gills disappearing. He gestured back to us.

"Sean."

Sean leaned forward in his chair.

"I want to be," he paused, thinking. "Banshee."

"Why do you want to be named after a wailing spirit?" Hank wondered out loud, his head tilting slightly to one side in interest.

"Just watch," Sean said. Standing up, he crouched down at the end of the coffee table and looked around. "And cover your ears."

I looked at him in confusion (not unlike most everyone else in the room) and hesitantly put my hands over my ears. Sean looked around again, probably making sure everyone had followed his command. He focused his attention back on the window. He drew in a deep breath and let out a low whistle which quickly turned into a high pitched screech, leaving the window shattered in tiny pieces on the floor and on the ground outside.

My mouth practically dropped to the floor, but it didn't stay that way for long because I couldn't hold back my laughter. I applauded Sean, along with the others. He stood up, grinning, obviously proud of the reaction he was getting.

"Your turn." He said, pointing at Angel.

She stood up, taking her jacket off.

"My stage name is Angel," She said with a small smile. Sean whistled, smirking. I rolled my eyes at his immaturity. I don't know what I was expecting, but I guess boys will always be boys, mutant or not. She twirled around, showing everyone all the tattoos on her back.

Angel rolled her shoulders and her tattoos began to lift off of her skin to form wings. Her wings buzzed as she flew a meter or so up into the air. I grinned, watching her wings flutter in amazement.

"You can fly?" Raven asked, astonished.

"Yeah," Angel said. "I can also do this."

She turned to face the window, just as Sean had done, but instead of letting out a high pitched screech, she spat, much to our surprise. A little bit to my disgust, as well. Instead of regular saliva, however, Angel spat out a ball of fire that landed on the head of the bronze statue just outside the broken window. The statue's head sizzled, her saliva like acid.

As much as the second half of Angel's abilities made me uncomfortable, I still applauded her abilities with the rest of the group, smiling. I loved the fact that she could fly.

Angel sat back down, her wings in the form of tattoos again and looked to Hank, smiling.

"What about you?"

While Hank suddenly looked much more uncomfortable with all the attention on him, Alex snorted into his drink. He looked at Hank, a smirk on his face.

"How about big foot?"

Seeing Hank's put-down expression, I shot Alex the same look Candice gave anyone who ever sent a Smart Alec remark my way. Raven also shot Alex a look, but she decided to tell him off, too.

"Well, you've heard about guys and big feet," She said, leaning over to see his shoes. She narrowed her brows first and then smirked. "And, uh, yours are kind of small."

Alex's smirk faltered, but only slightly. He looked to the floor, shaking his head as we giggled or chuckled at Raven's insult.

"What _can_you do, Alex?" I asked, smiling a little bit. Although he'd just got through being an absolute jerk, I was still interested in his ability. Alex suddenly became very uncomfortable. He shot me a look, but I couldn't comprehend what message he was trying to send.

A few 'Yeahs' sounded in agreement around the room. Alex looked around a bit, trying to figure out what he was going to say. He sighed.

"It's not, uh, I can't," He paused. "I can't do it in here."

"Can you do it out there?" Darwin asked, gesturing towards the broken window.

"Yeah, can you do it out there?" Raven followed up, grinning.

The whole group began to chant Alex's name, clapping or slapping the arms of the chairs for emphasis. I clapped along with the rest of the group until Alex finally set his drink down on the table and stood up. All of us cheered in victory as he stepped outside.

"Just stay back when I tell you," He commanded as the rest of us began to get up out of our seats to move to the window.

I felt someone tap the upper half of my arm. It was Sean.

"_Just stay back when I tell you_." He mocked, his voice higher than usual. I rolled my eyes at his antics, but I let a small grin slip into my annoyed façade.

"Hey, I finally got another smile." He chuckled. "That's good, right?"

All of us (except for Alex, of course) gathered near the window to watch Alex. He rolled his shoulders a bit, and then looked our way.

"Get back."

We retreated behind the wall, but only for a few seconds. We all leaned forward from behind the wall to get a better view of Alex. His brows narrowed in annoyance when he saw us.

"I said to get _back_!" He growled.

We remained still, not wanting to miss any of the 'action'.

"Whatever." He muttered, letting out a long sigh.

He brought his arms back, his hands balled up into fists. First, his hands and upper body began to move back and forth, almost as if he had an invisible hula hoop. I giggled a little bit at that thought. Soon, some kind of red energy appeared and followed his movements. That red energy then shot away from him in the form of several rings. One ring even happened to hit the bronze statue, slicing most of the top half of the statue clear off.

I gaped at the top half of the statue on the ground in amazement. Both halves of the statue were still on fire, too! The other girls laughed and Angel even jumped up and down in excitement.

I had to admit, everyone else's abilities were awesome, but Alex's was, for lack of a better word, powerful. I sure was glad he had the brain and common sense not to do that inside. Then again, inside was already pretty trashed.

Once we were all back inside, we let the excitement of everything that was going on get to us. Raven turned up the music, inviting everyone to dance. Angel's tattoos became wings again and she flew up into the air, laughing and moving around to the music. Darwin dared Alex and Sean to hit him as hard as they could. This was something I raised a brow to and so did Alex and Sean at first. Darwin assured them nothing would happen.

"Adapt to survive and all," He told them. "Remember?"

As Alex and Sean began to hit Darwin as hard as they could with whatever was lying around the room (such as chairs), Hank took off his shoes and socks and did a back flip in order to hang upside down off of the chandelier.

I stood there for a while, awkwardly. I laughed at their antics from time to time, but other than that, I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. I was never one for 'gatherings' and whenever Candice managed to drag me along to one, this is exactly what I'd do. Sometimes I'd even turn invisible if I was especially threatened or nervous.

_Perhaps I should've turned invisible_. I thought as I watched Raven make her way over to my near vacant corner.

"Come on, Kathryn," She laughed, grabbing both of my hands and pulling me back towards the center of the room. "Dance with us!"

"No, that's okay Raven," I giggled nervously, trying to get her to let go of me. She was a heck of a lot stronger than she looked. "I really, _really_don't want to dance. Actually, it's not that I don't _want_ to, I'm just really bad at dancing!"

Raven laughed again, shaking her head. Finally, she let go of my hands.

"Just live a little, Kathryn!" She yelled, stepping up onto the couch, moving around to the music. "You don't have to be good at dancing to dance, anyway. Just listen to the music and move!"

I laughed a little at Raven's sporadic, yet enthusiastic movements. I think she was pretending to be terrible at dancing to make me feel better, because she laughed at her movements, too. I shook my head in embarrassment_. Oh, what the heck._ I danced, too. I probably looked like a complete idiot, but I just listened to the music, as Raven had instructed, and danced.

I actually had a lot of fun.

Well, that was until 'the adults' showed up.

"_What_ are you doing?"

My heart practically stopped then. I was not expecting a female agent to pop up out of nowhere outside along with Charles and Erik, nor was I expecting her to have such a strong pair of lungs on her.

Movement in the room stopped immediately. Hank jumped down from the chandelier, Angel flew back to the ground and Raven stepped off of the couch. The woman stood there, her hands on her hips, glaring at us. This was one very, very angry agent.

_Most_of us knew we were in trouble.

"Who destroyed the statue?" She asked, pointing at the half of the statue that was still standing. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other nervously. Well, it didn't help that I'd never met the agent, before.

"It was Alex." Hank admitted almost immediately.

Alex turned his head so he could look Hank in the eyes and shot him a look.

"No, it's Havok. We have to call him Havok," Raven corrected, stepping forward. "And I was thinking, that you," She pointed to Charles. "Should be called Professor X and you," She pointed to Erik. "Should be Magneto."

The agent shook her head, her hands back at her sides and walked away, fuming.

"Exceptional." Erik muttered.

Charles' lips formed a thin line as he shot a stern look towards Raven.

"I expect more from you." He said, following Erik out of the courtyard.

We all looked at each other, wondering how bad we had screwed this up.

* * *

><p>It had been quite a few hours since Charles, Erik and the agent (who I now knew was named Moira, thanks to Hank) had left us to drown in our regret. We been "escorted" out of the room we had destroyed and into the one next to it. This new room was almost a copy of the one we were in previously, but was a little bit …blander.<p>

Our spirits were completely depleted compared to how we were acting a few hours ago. None of us had really talked much since then. To be honest, there really wasn't much to be said, anyways. The only two who talked from time to time were Alex and Darwin. For the last half an hour or so, they'd been playing against each other on the pin ball machine.

As for the rest of us, we were simply sitting around the coffee table, trying to think of things to say. Perhaps we were all too afraid to say the things we wanted to. Or, perhaps we just kept the new trend of not having anything to say.

I wondered whether or not the 'government' would even still want our help after what we did. I mean, it's not like we gave them a great first impression to work off of. I couldn't help but wonder about what the MIBs thought of us now. Probably nothing good. On top of us all being freaks, they probably thought that we lacked self-control now, too.

_Great._

I can only hope that they'll give us another chance. It would be terrible if all we got to do was stay here for a night and find out that we aren't the only people who are different. Don't get me wrong, the whole meeting other mutants thing is awesome, but I can easily meet new people and spend a night away from home with Candice.

And to be sent back home after only one night; I don't think any of us wanted that, no matter how much we may or may not miss our 'homes'.

Although Charles was extremely angry (or maybe disappointed is the better word) with us earlier this evening, I don't think he wants us to leave this early. He seemed to excited over the fact that a group of mutants (possibly the first of its kind) had been put together. There was no way he would let us be sent home so soon.

A tap on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts.

"Want to play Rummy?" Sean asked, a small smile on his lips. I furrowed my brows.

"What's rummy?"

"It's a card game," he explained. "You've really never heard of it before?"

"Nope," I admitted, sitting up a little straighter. "I've never really been interested in card games."

"What?" He asked. "How is that possible?"

"I guess it just is." Was my answer.

"Well, why don't I teach you?" He prepositioned. Then he grinned. "Maybe you were just never taught by the right guy. I happen to be a _very _good teacher."

That one made me laugh a little.

"I don't think that's how it works, Sean." Raven spoke up, finally. She wore a witty smirk, but it was faint.

"Do you even have a deck?" I wondered, sending him a curious look.

He looked around a bit before turning back to us with an answer.

"Well," he laughed. "I figured that I might find one if someone actually accepted my offer, but I guess that's not going to happen. Sorry, Kathryn."

I rolled my eyes. He was such a dork.

Okay, so he was a better than average looking dork, but he was still a dork.

At once, our attention was drawn to the window to the courtyard. One of two MIBs had knocked on the window, snickering. I slumped a little in my seat. I had a feeling that this wasn't going to be good.

"Hey," One of the agents laughed, pointing at us. "I didn't know the circus was in town!"

He looked around at us, not minding the glares we sent his way one bit.

"Hey, c'mon honey, give us a little," He made a motion with his hands to mock Angel's wings and even added his own sound effects. She shook her head at him, sending him a venomous look. The agent's grin grew wider. "Aw c'mon!

"No? How about you," He chuckled, his attention now focused on Hank. "C'mon, you can do it, huh, big foot? Let's see the foot!"

Hank sighed and stood up. The agent seemed rather delighted. _What a jerk._ Hank waved a little 'goodbye' to the agent as he pulled a string on the side of the large window. The yellow-green curtains closed, the two agents no longer in our sight.

Silence engulfed us as Hank sat back down, but it didn't last for long.

"They're just guys being stupid." Raven said with a short sigh.

Angel shot her a look.

"Guys being stupid I can handle," She snipped. "I've handled that my whole life. But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with all of my clothes off than the way these guys look at me."

Raven looked at her dejectedly, and then looked to the floor.

"At us." She corrected.

At that moment, a dull _thump _was heard outside. We all sat up even straighter, looking at each other to confirm that we all heard that. Even Darwin and Alex turned away from the pin ball machine to look at us, wondering if we were the source of the noise.

"What was that?" Darwin asked, looking at us for an answer.

Another thump and Darwin answered his own question.

"I don't know," he said, walking towards us, Alex soon following. "But something doesn't feel right."

The rest of us stood up, following Darwin to the window. He opened the curtains and, for a few moments, we all just stood there, looking around the courtyard outside the window, wondering where the thumping noise was coming from. Another thump, but this time, our eyes were drawn to the sky. There was a dark figure (or, now that I think about it, _figures_), about fifty yards above the building, silhouetted against the moon.

"What is that?" Darwin wondered out loud.

We all leaned forward, trying to get a better look. Suddenly, a half of the figure broke apart and began to fall from the other half. My eyes stayed trained on the half that didn't fall for the split second that it was there. It almost looked like a …person. That 'person' suddenly disappeared in a haze of smoke.

_Mutant?_

I didn't get a chance to think another thought. Involuntarily, a scream left my mouth. The 'second half', or a MIB, fell onto the ground (or, more accurately, became a part of it) with a sickening crunch. I backed away a few steps, almost tripping over whatever was behind me.

More thumps were heard. With each thump, another MIB fell onto the ground or on the roof above us. The sound of every bone in their body breaking as they hit whatever surface they fell onto replayed over and over again like a broken record.

Lights came on around the base, the most visible lights going off in the courtyard. Another MIB fell onto a glass structure only a few metres away from us outside. Raven let out a scream, just as I had the last time, and we all took another step away from the window.

The courtyard was now completely lit up and_ living_, armed MIBs flooded into the courtyard, their weapons pointed at the sky. One senior MIB ran up to the window and pounded on it to get all of our attentions.

"Stay back!" He ordered, gesturing for us to move to the other side of the room. "Do not move from that room!"

The senior MIB had just turned around when a _red_ man appeared in the same smoke-filled haze I'd seen before.

I heard someone yell, "Shoot!" and soon the horrible sound of gunfire rang in the air. Taking a clumsy step back again, with my hands over my ears, I tripped backwards and fell onto the ground. The window shattered from what I figured was a stray bullet, but I couldn't really see from where I was. Everyone else crouched near me, behind the closest piece of furniture out of fear of the gunfire.

It was quiet for a mere moment. Our attention was instantaneously focused on a _cyclone _crossing the opposite yard outside. In its wake, it destroyed the giant golf-ball like structure in the yard.

Back in the courtyard, rapid gunfire was no longer heard. The red man began to cut down all of the MIBs with what looked like a short dagger, disappearing and appearing in front of the MIBs in short intervals, giving the men no time to think before they took their final breaths.

Darwin, who was crouched above all of us protectively, looked around anxiously for a moment.

"Stay here, my ass!" He shouted.

For a split second, we all watched Darwin begin to run to the exit, his intentions not really registering in our minds. We soon got the idea however, and quickly followed him. I must've hurt my ankle a bit worse than I thought I did when I tripped backwards, because an intense pain in my right ankle was making it hard to keep up with the others.

I tried to ignore it, though, and ran faster to match the pace of the others. We didn't make it very far, however. At the end of the hall, we were abruptly stopped by three armed agents.

"Get back!" They told us, shoving Alex and Darwin (who were at the front of the group) back.

The rest of us skidded to a halt before we ran into Alex, Darwin and the agents. An explosion was heard and very soon _seen_, as smoke and fire engulfed the agents at the end of the hall we'd almost begun to run through.

Our group glanced at each other in panic, not knowing what to do. Darwin took the lead, again and we followed him back to the room we'd just left. The cyclone was still as ferocious as it was the last time I'd seen it, as was the red man.

He took down each agent, one after the other before they could even attempt to simply injure the man. Spinning around, he wrapped his tail (wait, _tail?_) around an agent's neck, making him a human shield. Another agent opposite them had his hand gun aimed at the red man, but couldn't get a clear shot. I could see the armed man was panicking.

"Please don't shoot," I whispered, hoping that the man would somehow hear me, but he didn't. The 'human shield' dropped to the ground, lifeless, and the mutant disappeared and reappeared behind the armed agent. I looked away, not wanting to see the man impaled.

I turned to see through the still intact window, where the cyclone continued to rage on. An agent got caught up into the whirlwinds and was thrown through the window, the glass shattering into millions of pieces around the agent's corpse.

We had nowhere to go at that moment. The red man stepped into the room, brushing off the front of his coat nonchalantly, like he hadn't just gotten through taking the lives of maybe fifty men. We tried to back away from him, but couldn't get very far as another man dressed in a grey suit stepped into the room from the opposite empty window pane.

I almost crouched down with my hands over my head when gun shots were fired from just outside two closed doors on the opposite side of the room.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading! And, as always, thank you so much for your support through reviews, favorites and follows! :3<em>


	4. Chapter IV

_Chapter Four_

_A Revolution Is Coming_

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><p>"Please!" A man (probably an agent) begged from the other side. "You want the mutants? Fine! Take them! Just let us normal people go—"<p>

A crunch was heard, not unlike the ones I'd heard after MIBs began to fall from the sky. I put my hands over my mouth, feeling my throat constrict. It was getting a little hard to breathe. I felt a hand on my shoulder, but didn't bother to see who it was.

Another man stepped into the room, a mutant, I could tell. He was wearing a strange looking helmet. He closed the door behind him and observed us for a moment. Then he looked to the red man.

"Where is the telepath?" He asked.

"Not here." The red man responded, glancing around the room.

"Too bad," He man chuckled, smiling at us. "At least I can take this silly thing off."

He bent down and pulled the helmet off his head. Standing up straight, he ran a hand through his hair. He continued to smile at us, almost in a…polite way, even.

"Good evening, my name is Sebastian Shaw," He said. "And I am _not _here to hurt you."

"Freeze!" An agent ordered from out in the courtyard, his weapon drawn and aimed at Shaw. Shaw barely even glanced at the man.

"Azazel." He ordered.

The red man, or _Azazel_, disappeared and reappeared behind the agent, 'taking care of him'.

"My friends," Shaw brought our attention back to him. "There is a revolution coming. When _mankind _discovers who we are and what we can do."

He took a number of steps forward, coming closer and closer to us. I looked to the floor when he was only about a meter away, as I was standing in the front, next to Angel.

"Every one of us will face a choice. Be enslaved," he paused. "Or rise up to rule. Choose freely, but know that if you are not _with _us, then, by definition, you are _against_ us.

"So, you can stay here and fight for the people who hate you," he paused again. I stupidly chose that second to lift my head up, and wound up looking Shaw straight in the eyes. "And _fear _you," I looked down again. "Or you can join me and live like kings and queens."

Shaw held his hand out, looking directly at Angel. I lifted my head once more to look at her.

He had her.

Angel took his hand and the two of them began to walk towards Azazel, the other man in the grey suit following them.

"Angel," Raven called out.

"Are you kidding me?" Sean asked, exasperated.

Angel paused and looked at us all over her shoulder.

"C'mon," she gestured for us to follow her. "We don't belong here, the government watching and dictating our every moves and that's _nothing _to be ashamed of."

None of us followed. Angel shook her head subtly at us as Darwin held his hand out for her to take. She ignored him, and followed Shaw and the other two men out into the courtyard.

"We've got to do something." Raven muttered.

My eyes were trained on Angel. I couldn't grasp that fact that she was leaving with _them_. It's not like I know her well, we've only known each other for little more than a day, but _still._ I rubbed my temples. My legs were weak, I was dizzy and it felt like my stomach was in my throat. I was hard to believe that _any_ of this was happening.

I looked up just in time to see Alex shove Darwin away. _Not Darwin, too…_

Darwin stepped into the courtyard, asking Shaw and the others to wait a moment.

"I'm coming with you." He told them.

Shaw greeted him with a smile, nodding his head in approval.

"So, what can you do?" He asked.

"Well, I adapt to survive," Darwin told him. "So I guess I'm coming with you."

"I like that." Shaw chuckled, escorting Darwin towards Angel, Azazel and the other man.

I furrowed my brows at Alex when he began to slowly move towards the center of the room. Raven, Hank and Sean followed behind him, as did I. Alex was up to s_omething_. He glanced at us for a split second before shouting,

"Get out!"

His intentions quickly dawned on me when I saw Darwin grab onto Angel. Apparently I didn't act quick enough, however, as Sean had to grab onto my upper arm and pull me over to the opposite side of the room next to Raven and Hank. A bright flash of red emanated from Alex, energy rings of his flying towards Shaw and the others.

I twisted around, trying to figure out what I'd missed as if this were some kind of picture show. Alex stood there, a smile quickly fading off of his face (as were the remnants of his red energy). Shaw stood opposite him, his hands held out and _absorbing _the energy rings.

_What the heck?_

"Protecting your fellow mutants," Shaw nodded, turning his attention to Darwin. "A noble gesture."

Shaw moved closer to him, and Darwin reacted by attempting to deck him in the jaw. Shaw, however, blocked Darwin's punch and even absorbed _that _energy. He moved quickly, and grabbed Darwin's face. His other hand lit up with what looked like the red energy Alex had just thrown at him. Shaw concentrated that energy into a small sphere.

"Adapt to this." He said, letting go the small sphere of red energy in Darwin's mouth.

I didn't even see Shaw and his friends leave, my eyes stayed focused on Darwin. For a few moments, it looked like he would be fine ("Adapt to survive and all." He'd probably say.), but his skin began to morph into steel and, after that, turned to molten lava quickly contained in a crumbled and chipped, rocky surface.

Darwin looked at Alex, parts off his face morphing back into his usual skin, but the lava and fire quickly engulfed the rocks. I looked away, my eyes not being able to handle the sheer brightness of the explosion.

* * *

><p>We spent the rest of the night in one of the lobbies that hadn't been destroyed during (what I'm now going to dub) 'the siege'. A number of MIBs who had been lucky to come out of the siege partially or completely unscathed had rounded us up earlier, taking note of Angel and Darwin's absence, and then left us here while they went to do their government business or whatever. I hadn't really been paying attention to the few quick instructions they'd given us. I don't think <em>any<em> of us were, really.

Angel is gone.

More importantly (if that's the correct word to use in this context), Darwin is dead.

_Dead._

I could hardly wrap my mind around it. Coming into this whole ordeal, I had absolutely no idea of what was going to happen. I'll admit that there were a few times when I wondered about us getting into dangerous situations, I mean, we are practically on the brink of a nuclear war… But there was _never _a time when I thought something like _this _would happen.

This is just _wonderful_. We're almost to the point of a nuclear war, now we have a _mutant _war (if you want to call it that) and I can't control my powers for you-know-what.

I let out a little laugh. I probably would've laughed more had I not just recently witnessed the deaths of all those agents. Just thinking about what happened before the siege, when I turned invisible randomly made me chuckle. I'm a little ashamed to admit that _that _fiasco has happened more than once before.

I closed my tired eyes and let sleep overcome me.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Kathryn," Someone spoke above me. I felt this person grab my arm and shake me gently. "Wake up. Charles and Erik should be here, soon."<p>

I opened my eyes slowly, letting them get adjusted to the light before focusing in on Raven.

"Morning, Raven," I mumbled groggily. I soon became painfully aware of a nasty kink in the side of my neck. Rubbing my soreness (mostly) away, I stood up and stretched my legs as best I could. My ankle was still a little sore, but I barely noticed it. Raven greeted me with a small smile. Then I noticed what she was wearing.

"Hey," I pointed to her coat. "You didn't have that last night."

"Yeah," She chuckled. "Our rooms survived through the night. You slept a half an hour longer than the rest of us, so Hank, Sean and Alex have already changed."

"Well, thanks for inviting me to the party." I joked. She smiled. "I guess I should visit my room, as well."

"Can I come?" She asked.

"Sure," I answered slowly. "I guess."

We traveled back to my room, having to take a detour here and there to avoid some hallways that were almost or completely destroyed.

"You said Charles and Erik will be back soon?" I asked.

"Yeah," Raven nodded. "Don't know for sure if they've heard of what happened here, though. I'm guessing they have, but no one around here is giving us any straight answers."

I nodded in understanding as we approached my bedroom door. It's not surprising that all the government agents would be weary of us after witnessing the destruction some of us mutants can incur. I'm a mutant and even I didn't know anyone could do that much damage.

Well, there _is_ Alex, but he wouldn't do anything like what Shaw did to this place.

We entered my room and I was delighted to find everything was where I'd left it.

"I don't need to bring my bag out right now, do I?" I wondered out loud.

"No," Raven answered. "If you want to, you can. I don't know what they're going to do with us."

"Well, we're leaving, aren't we?" I asked, rummaging through my bag to find some warm clothes. It was really chilly inside. "I mean, this place is desecrated. We can't stay here."

Raven nodded, sitting down on the edge of my bed just as I finally found a suitable skirt and a top to wear.

"So." She said, raising her brows and smiling slyly at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her, hugging my change of clothes to my chest.

"So." I said, a little scared of the look she was giving me.

"_So_," She began again, amused. "What's up with you and Sean?"

I let out a relieved breath and relaxed a little, but continued to look at her like she was crazy.

"What about me and Sean?"

"You two seem pretty friendly, is all." She replied, chuckling.

I let out a small, nervous giggle.

"I don't know how you came to that conclusion seeing as _we barely know each other._"

She shrugged her shoulders, still grinning.

"You two just seem like you'd make a cute couple."

"Okay!" I exclaimed, my face growing very hot as I sped into the bathroom and slammed the door behind me to change. "We are _not _having this conversation!"

Raven only laughed.

I shook my head, completely embarrassed as I changed. _Yeah, right. _I mean, he _was _cute. So, I guess I can admit I have a small crush on him, but it doesn't mean anything. It's just a crush. I quietly laughed to myself. _Like he'd ever be interested in a wreck like me, anyways. _

Once I was done, I ignored Raven as she continued to go on about how compatible Sean and I were and put my old clothes back into my back and dug out a sweater and a pair of long socks. Once I'd put those on, I slipped back into my shoes and tugged on my coat.

We made our way back the way we had come before and instead of staying in the lobby, we continued on (or rather, Raven lead and I followed because I still couldn't find my way around this place) and exited the building all together. Outside, amongst the crumbled ruins of the building, Hank, Alex and Sean were sitting at stone benches.

None of us said much while we waited for Charles and Erik. From time to time, I'd look up and meet Sean's gaze from behind his sunglasses and he would send me a small smile which I returned gratuitously.

Then, once he looked away, I'd blush like a fool and Raven would nudge me, wiggle her eye brows suggestively and send me another irritating, sly smile, but I tried my best to just forget about my small crush.

I don't know how long we waited there. Maybe it was a few minutes or maybe even a few hours, but finally the sound of squealing tires brought us out of our reveries. Three car doors slammed shut. Charles soon came into sight. Raven stood up and took a few anxious steps towards him before they embraced. Charles glanced at all of us worriedly from over Raven's shoulder. Erik soon came into sight, too, and not long after him came Agent Moira around the corner.

Charles stepped away from Raven and finally took a good look at us. I couldn't read the look on his face. He glanced at Erik and Moira.

"We've made arrangements for all of you to be taken home immediately." Said Charles.

My jaw almost dropped to the floor. Maybe I was having doubts about this whole fiasco before, but I wasn't now. Well, it's not like I really know what I'm heading into either, but I'll head into it without hesitation. As much as I want to see Candice again, I can't be sent home, not now. After everything that has happened, they can't expect us to go home and just move on with our lives, can they? There must be something we can do…

"No," said Sean, shaking his head a few times.

"No?" Charles raised his brows. He almost looked like a father waiting for his son to challenge his authority again.

"He's not going back to prison." Sean said, glancing at Alex.

"They _killed _Darwin." Alex added.

"All the more reason for you all to go back home," Charles answered. "This is over."

"They killed Darwin and we can't even bury him, Charles." Raven said solemnly.

"But we can avenge him." Erik spoke up.

For a moment, everyone just looked at Erik. Then, Charles decided to pull him off to the side for a private discussion. They spoke for a while and I tried hard to listen in, but I could only hear a few words now and then. Charles finally turned around, giving us stern looks.

"You'll have to train," He said. "All of us. Yes?"

I spoke without thinking.

"Yes." I agreed loudly.

All attention was on me at once. I felt my cheeks grow very warm and I slumped a little in my seat. I did get a smile out of most everyone, though. I guess making a fool out of myself can be a good thing some times.

"Yes." Alex agreed, the faintest trace of a laugh in his voice.

"But we can't stay here," Hank said, looking around at the crumbled remains of the building. "Even if they reopen the division, it won't be safe anymore. We've got nowhere to go."

We all looked at each other for a few moments. Hank brought up a good point, but dampened my spirits a little bit at the same time. _Thanks, Hank._

The faintest smile grew on Charles's face.

"Yes we do."

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><p><em>Hey! So, once again, sorry for the late update. <em>

_I hope you liked this chapter. I think things got a bit choppy at the end and I'm not great at action, so I don't know how well the whole 'siege' part went. Hopefully I kept the characters in character!_

_Please leave a review! :3_


	5. Chapter V

_Holy Goodness, guys, it's been way, way too long. I'm so sorry! But thank you so much for waiting and you guys are so awesome, I can't even explain it. Thank you for reviewing, even on the author's note! I love you all to pieces. Your support is so amazing and I can't thank you all enough. I know this chapter is somewhat short, but I'm definitely in a writing mood._

_**Also, **I did make some minor and major adjustments to the story! Kathryn and Sean's second meeting is completely different! You'll find that in chapter two. There were some other things I changed, but none as big as the one I just mentioned. I hope you all like the changes I've made. *crosses fingers* Also, **Kathryn's code-name has been changed** from Servo to Spectra!  
><em>

_Once again, and I'm sorry for such a long author's note, but I just need to thank you all once more. You're so amazing. Thank you so much!_

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><p><em>Chapter Five<em>

_Friends_

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><p>After a long, crowded and tense ride in a military transport truck, we arrived at Charles's home around five in the afternoon. It would be an understatement to say that my bottom jaw almost hit the ground as soon as I set eyes on his not-so-humble abode.<p>

Now, it's not like I was ever expecting a tiny little cottage out in the middle of nowhere, but I was most certainly wasnot expecting a_ palace_. I couldn't help but stand there, surrounded by my fellow mutants and Moira, and stare in awe at the beauty of Charles's verdant estate.

"This is _yours_?" Sean asked in disbelief, crossing his arms over his chest, his brows raised.

"No," Charles answered, looking over his shoulder at Sean and smiling widely. "It's ours."

I shared a look with Raven, still in complete awe of the mansion that stood before us. I'll admit I was a little excited over the fact that we'd be living here (for now, at least). This place had to be five-hundred times the size of my little apartment back in Wakefield.

"Honestly Charles, I don't know how you survived," Erik said, turning to Charles with a cool look. "Living in such hardship."

I heard Raven chuckle from beside me as she stepped forward and grabbed Charles's arm affectionately.

"Well, it was a hardship softened by me." She stated before Charles placed a chaste kiss on the side of her blonde head. "Come on, time for the tour."

Raven strode forward, off of the gravel road, onto the green grass and to a back entrance into the mansion. We all followed, listening intently to everything she was saying.

As we made our way through the house, I found Raven to be the perfect candidate for a future in the tour guide industry. She explained the lay of the house, made sure to point out all of the exits, told us where we needed to go if we needed such-and-such appliance/toiletry/etcetera and added in all of the funny and or embarrassing memories of her and Charles whenever she could recall them.

After maybe an hour or so, we ventured back into the left wing, where our rooms would be.

"Why don't you all get settled in?" Charles suggested. "We'll all regroup in the loft in five minutes."

As Erik, Hank, Moira, Sean and Alex went forward to choose their separate rooms, I glanced at Charles and Raven, who were both quietly conversing and drifting towards the stairway that lead downstairs and wondered if now was the time I should try to contact Candice. I gulped anxiously and took small, but quick steps in order to catch up to the two of them and hoped I wouldn't be an annoyance by interrupting.

Raven noticed me first and smiled brightly.

"So, how do you like the place?" She asked.

"What's not to like?" I answered, grinning back at her.

"Of course." She chuckled. "You should come to my room sometime! I've got a ton of dresses I don't wear as much anymore that I think would look really cute on you!"

I raised my brows in surprise.

"R-really? Cool." I giggled back.

Raven just laughed and gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder. I then slowly turned to Charles and smiled a little at the knowing look he was giving me. I figured that perhaps he already knew what I wanted to ask of him.

"I was wondering if you had a working telephone I could use."

"To call your friend." He add, a small, but warm smile on his face. "Yes, I believe there should be one somewhere around here. I'll look, but I cannot promise anything."

I nodded my head in gratitude and out of the corner of my eye, saw that Erik was already exiting his room to rejoin Charles and Raven.

"Thank you _so _much." I said quickly before turning around to find a room that wasn't occupied yet.

I chose the nearest open room I could find and closed the door behind me to get settled in.

I was surprised to find a fireplace in my room when I set my bag down on a comfortable looking Queen sized bed. I certainly wasn't expecting to find one, but considering I would never live in such a luxurious place again, I wouldn't complain or think any more on it. I could only enjoy it while it lasted.

I didn't bother to turn any lights on considering I would be leaving in a matter of moments, but I did cross the room and opened the window curtains and then the windows themselves in order to let some light and air in. I took a deep breath, inhaling the crisp October air, before turning on my heels and crossing the room again to exit back into the hall and rejoin the others.

I didn't notice anyone else in the hall, so I quickened my pace in order to get downstairs and into the loft faster. I didn't know if anyone was still in their rooms and I certainly didn't want to keep everyone waiting if I was the last to get there.

I released the breath I was holding when I entered the loft, however, as neither Sean or Hank were back yet. Raven beckoned me over from her seat on an expensive looking couch.

_Who am I kidding? Everything looks expensive. _I thought.

I sent her a shy smile as I made my way across the room and sat down next to her.

"No one seems to be in any hurry to start training." I told her.

"Of course not." She chuckled. "Isn't physical exertion everyone's number one enemy these days?"

I laughed too, but stopped after Raven nudged my arm with hers and nodded towards the doorway as Sean made his appearance, Hank entering behind him shortly thereafter. I shook my head at Raven as she simply laughed some more at me.

"You _need_ to stop."

"I'm not doing anything!" She retorted, amused.

Since the group was once again whole, Charles made his way towards the front of the room.

"Tomorrow, we'll start training early in the morning. In short, each of you will be spending time with Moira and myself in order to learn how to better control your specific mutations." He paused, look around bemusedly. "And in all honesty, that's all that is needed to be said at the moment." He smiled warmly at us before continuing. "Please, make yourself at home. The kitchen is open to you when you so need it." Then, he chuckled. "I hate to baby you all, but don't stay up too late. I'd like for you all to be back here at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Alright, let's go." Raven said, grabbing my arm and leading me out into the hallway.

"Where are we going?" I wondered, my brows furrowed in confusion.

She looked back at me and grinned.

"I told you, I have a bunch of clothes I want you to try on!"

I refrained from groaning about being Raven's new dress up doll and simply let her continue to pull me along to her room. I admit, I hadn't thought she was serious the first time she'd told me she wanted me to try on a few of her things, so this wasn't exactly how I was planning on spending the rest of my evening. I had wanted to simply go back to my room and relax, maybe even go outside and just wander around the estate. There was also the possibility of a phone call to Candice, which I certainly was a little anxious about.

My plans, of course, would have to wait until after Raven was finished playing dress up with me.

Of course, I wasn't completely bummed out about spending some 'girl time' with Raven. It's not like I had many girl friends back home. I really didn't have many friends anyways, but _that's not the point. _

The point is that Candice would usually drag me along on excursions to the downtown shopping area where we would spend the entire day dressing up in beautiful clothes, but never buying anything considering our tight budgets. We hadn't been able to do that in a couple months and I suppose I never quite realized how much I missed that until now. While I missed Candice, it was certainly nice to have another female friend I could spend time with and talk to.

When we made it to Raven's room, she finally let go of my arm and, a warm smile ever present on her face, she closed the door behind me and crossed the room open up her closet. I sat down on the end of her bed as she began sifting through her clothes.

"Here are all of the things I don't really wear anymore." I heard her mumble from across the room. I stood up and turned to her and my eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I saw the enormous pile of clothes she held in her arms as she made her way back over to me.

She dropped everything on the bed and, grinning, put her hands on her hips.

"What colors do you usually like to wear?" She asked, sifting through the pile of shifts and sweaters.

I had to think for a moment as I usually just pulled on whatever was clean. I never paid much attention to colors. As long as I liked it, I'd wear it.

"I suppose greens and greys." I answered quietly. Then I shrugged my shoulders. "Plaid shifts were all the rage at my high school last year, so I wore quite a few of those."

She nodded.

"I think mostly anything green would work on you well considering it'll match your eyes." She smiled. "Just give me a second and I'll find something."

For another hour, Raven had me try on most everything she'd brought out of her closet. At times, Raven reminded me of my mother when she used to take me shopping whenever she'd make me twirl around in whatever I was wearing and the way she'd readjust things that didn't look right to her.

When I left her room, I had probably six or seven shifts and two sweaters in my arms. When she told me she wanted me to keep them, I was a little surprised. I didn't really want to take her clothes without giving something in return, but she assured me over my worries.

"It's fine!" She had exclaimed, laughing exasperatedly. "Take them! I don't wear them much anyways and they look ten times better on you than they ever did on me."

I made my way back to my room, suddenly feeling tired. I didn't bother to close the door behind me as I was planning on going outside for a little fresh air. I knew that the estate was absolutely beautiful and I wanted to explore the area a little more, too.

I was about to put on one of the wool sweaters Raven had given me when I heard someone clear their throat just outside my room. I looked over quickly, a little embarrassed and found Charles standing there.

"I found a telephone if you're still in need of it." He smiled.

"Oh, yeah, that would be great!" I answered, grinning excitedly over the prospect of being able to speak to Candice again.

Charles gestured for me to follow him and I did. It was only a short walk downstairs, through the kitchen and into a large storage or pantry area. I heard Charles let out a small chuckle as gestured towards a rotary style telephone.

"It's an old line." He said. "but, it works. I had most of the lines cut after Raven and I left for England. I had almost forgotten about this old thing."

"No, it's fine." I told him, smiling graciously. "You said it works; that's all I need."

Charles nodded at me and turned to exit the room. He stopped, however, just outside the door frame and turned to me again.

"I must ask you not to give her _too_ much information. This is very much a," He paused, chuckling. "Secret mission, if you will."

"You don't need to worry." I told him. "I just want to see how she's doing. Thank you, again."

He nodded once more and walked away.

I sighed, turning to the phone in hesitation. I picked up the receiver and, one by one, put in each digit that comprised Candice's phone number. With a shaky hand, I put in the last number and waited.

The phone rang once and my heart began to pound in my chest. I couldn't understand why I was so nervous. Candice was my best friend, I shouldn't be acting like this. On the second ring however, I slammed the receiver back down on the phone and felt my eyes begin to water.

I was frustrated with myself. I had been gone for days, so Candice _must _be worried about me. She would want a call, wouldn't she? No matter how little information I gave her? What was so hard about talking to your best friend?

I shook my head, rubbing my temple. I _needed _to speak to her. I needed her to know that I was alright, that I hadn't been kidnapped or anything like that.

I couldn't think of a time in the past two years where we hadn't spoken to each other at least once throughout a twenty-four hour period. She was truly my best friend. I need to stop being so scared of her reaction. She'll probably be mad, I know that. She'll understand, though, if I tell her about the fact that I'm with other mutants.

I let a big breath escape my lungs and tried to calm myself.

I picked up the receiver again, slowly dialed Candice's number once more and on the third ring, she answered.


	6. Chapter VI

_There's no excuse for the amount it has taken to get this story updated, so thanks SO MUCH to those of you who are still supporting me! You're all so great, whether you've reviewed, followed and/or fave'd! _

_ALSO, for **Polar8Bear **(and anyone else who was confused xD): A shift was a type of dress commonly worn in the '60s. The majority of them were worn above the knee and were kind of rectangular in shape. They were offered in a wide variety of colors and styles. :3 _

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><p><em>Chapter Five<em>

_Bless That Woman_

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><p><strong>-CANDICE-<strong>

Libraries suck.

And I'm not just saying that because I _really _don't enjoy reading. I'm saying that because not only are libraries full of things I don't enjoy, but they're practically empty of one thing I do enjoy: People.

Or at least the library I work at is.

Now, you might be asking: 'Who in their right mind works at a place they are clearly not fond of?'

And, first, I would tell you, 'Obviously, I'm not in my right mind.' Then I would answer, 'Because of two reasons.'

The first reason: I'm delusional.

My best friend, Kathryn, book aficionado, frequently regaled me with stories of how much she enjoyed working at the library.

"_All the free books you could ever want, right at your fingertips, and a few intelligent, calm and kind people I could spend all day talking to."_ She'd say. Of course, all I heard was, _'People.'_

For the past two years, I'd been working for my dad in an auto shop he owned and it was fine and, hey, I got to spend time with my dad, but the majority of my time was spent in the basement, taking inventory. Alone.

I'm a _people_ person. I _like _people. I _enjoy speaking_ to people.

The only person I can speak to in the basement of my dad's shop, taking inventory, _is myself._

So, when I heard Kathryn say the words 'library', 'people' and then 'job opening', I jumped at the chance of interaction with other human beings.

Too bad Kathryn forgot to mention to me the fact _barely anyone _ever visits our library. Only old women come by and when I try to strike up a conversation, they just stare at me like I'm about to mug them or something.

The _second_ reason: Kathryn.

She'd been working at the library for a little while longer than I had; I'd say about eight months before I started. She seemed to really enjoy it, which was a good thing. So, when she mentioned a job opening, I couldn't think of a better position.

Interaction with people _and _getting to spend more time with my best friend? It seemed too good to be true, but I told her I'd give it a shot. I went in for an interview the next day and had the job by the end of the week.

When we work together, we're pretty much joined at the hips. We don't slack, I assure you, but we do talk the hours away. Then, we go home for an hour or two and meet up again at a diner or a park or something to talk for a few more hours because that's just how close we are.

Even with Kathryn, however, three months into my job at the library, my patience was running thin. I'd been taking more and more days off and I knew that pissed off the head Librarian, Mrs. Littleton, but I just didn't care. Kathryn scolded me every now and then for that, considering she'd never dare take a day off of work if she weren't sick, but that was exactly the reason why I was going to be visiting her apartment today.

Not only had she missed work for the past three days, but I hadn't seen or heard from her at all in that time, as well. I'd called her _at least _twelve times and she hadn't answered or called back, either.

I was beginning to get a bit worried.

At the same time, however, I wasn't. Kathryn had done this in the past. She's a patient person and doesn't get angered easily, but at various points in our history together, she'd been pushed over the edge by something I said or did and completely avoided me and the rest of the world for a few days to take time to cool down.

I hoped that that was the case.

What would she be angry about, though?

Perhaps it was the whole wallet fiasco. I'd dragged her around town, back and forth between places we'd already been for two and a half hours and I hadn't ever stopped to think that maybe she wasn't slapping me upside the head for being an idiot because she was too nice to do something like that.

Either way, I would get down to the bottom of this, apologize my ass off and hope that tomorrow, things would go back to normal.

It was half past six in the evening when I arrived at Kathryn's apartment building. It wasn't anything spectacular. The building was pretty far from the hubbub of town, so the area around it was quiet. It was small, too, only holding room for four tenants.

Not surprisingly, I couldn't find a soul in sight as I made my way up to the building. I shivered as I stepped inside, almost like my body was trying to release the October cold and welcome in the new-found warmth emanating from the heating system in the building.

I scuffed my shoes on the welcome mat, taking notice of the familiar faded, sickly green color of the walls in the hallway. Conveniently, Kathryn's apartment was the first down the hallway, so it only took three steps before I could place a couple of firm knocks on her door.

I waited.

No answer.

Huffing, I knocked again, louder than the last time.

Still, no answer.

I pressed my ear up to the door, hoping to hear any sign of life from inside. I hoped for a rustle of movement on the carpet, music from the radio or even the soft snores I knew Kathryn was accustomed to make as she slept, but there was nothing. I was met with absolute silence.

Now, I was really worried.

I knocked again, just for the heck of it, but after a beat, I grasped the door knob, turned and, to my surprise, pushed open the door.

Kathryn _always_ made sure to lock her door. _Always._

If Kathryn had up and left town of her own accord (which I highly doubted), there was no way in hell she would have left her apartment open like that. I scanned the kitchen and living room, noticing that everything seemed to still be in place as I cautiously closed the door behind me before reaching for the light switch and illuminating the place.

"Hello?" I tried again, taking a couple steps further into the apartment. "Kathryn? If you're here, this is absolutely not funny!"

I waited a couple moments, my hands on my hips like a mother waiting to scold her child for doing something naughty. Sighing deeply, I let my arms fall to my side again and figured my best place to look for evidence would be Kathryn's room.

When I got there, I didn't know whether to let myself feel relief or more worry.

Clothes, pictures, trinkets. They were all strewn about on Kathryn's faded yellow comforter. The closet door was open and I noticed that the only thing she ever kept on the floor inside, a satchel, was gone.

I felt a lump in my throat, but refused to let it get to me. Instead, I felt a coil in the pit of my stomach start to heat up.

_How could she just leave like this? Without telling me? _I thought scathingly, plopping down on the edge of her bed, crossing my arms and huffing in an attempt to alleviate my temper.

"Okay Candice, just settle down." I murmured to myself, pinching the bridge of my nose. "You know Kathryn. You know how she is. She'd never leave without telling you first unless something terrible happened."

I turned completely around on her bed to take a look at the things she'd left. I wanted to see if, somehow, someway, they would offer a clue as to where or why she left, but I was left shaking my head in disappointment.

It was stupid to think that I'd be able to figure out anything by the things she'd left behind.

Tired and frustrated, I stood, stretched in an effort to relieve my muscles of the tension they felt and made my way towards the door. I stopped, however, when I felt myself step on something. I stepped away to find a semi-crumpled polaroid on the floor.

Bending down to one knee, I picked the old thing up delicately, taking note of the frayed corners. My brows knitted together in vexation as I straightened the polaroid out. The back of it read '_The Family – 1958'_ in a beautiful, flowing script. Underneath these words however, were two holes. From the discoloration, I could tell that the picture had been burned twice.

I turned it around, to examine the front. It was a picture of Kathryn with her parents and two younger brothers, all standing together with smiling, happy faces. An example of the perfect American family.

_Not _so _perfect. _I thought, rubbing my thumb over the burnt out faces of Kathryn and her father. The only way I knew it was Kathryn was by the familiar long, chestnut brown locks hanging below her shoulders.

I looked to Kathryn's mother, who stood behind her with a tight-lipped, rose tinted smile on her face. Kathryn's brothers, the cute little things, stood on either side. If I could remember correctly, the smaller one hanging onto his sister's leg with short, messy brown hair, hazel eyes and a killer grin was Richard. The older brother, Eddie, looked like a carbon copy of little Richard, only two years older with a spray of freckles on his cheeks.

Then it hit me.

_Maybe Kathryn was visiting her family!_

Maybe something happened to one of the boys. Considering Kathryn's relationship with her mother, that's the only way she would've packed up and left to visit them.

That would certainly warrant a leave without any kind of notice.

There was only one problem, however. I had no idea where they lived. I knew they lived in the area, but not the exact address.

"Think, think, _think_." I hissed, trying to recall any memory of Kathryn's old address as I made my way through her apartment and out the door in haste. I had just stepped outside the building when the memory hit me like a bag of bricks.

Three years ago, Kathryn spent the week leading up to Christmas with her family. She didn't make it the whole week, in fact she got back home to Wakefield a day before I received a Christmas card from her.

"Cards come in envelopes," I mumbled to myself hurriedly, receiving a confused look from a man I'd passed on the sidewalk. "What do envelopes have on them? DUH. Return addresses!"

I made haste in walking back to the library, where I had left my beloved 1956 Ford F100. From there, I made the hour long drive back to my parent's house in thirty-eight minutes. I'm not usually one for breaking the law, but I couldn't contain myself.

I knew that I could be wrong. Kathryn may not have gone back to her family, but at least I would be a little closer to getting to the bottom of this.

I practically sprinted up to the front door, barging in as loud as I could. I was greeted by my mom's startled face peeking out of the doorway to the kitchen down the hall.

"Jesus H. Christ, Candice Marie!" She shouted breathily, her hand resting over her heart. "Don't you have any manners? You done scared _the spirit_ out of your poor old mother."

"Sorry!" I exclaimed, taking my coat off and hanging it in the closet before bounding over to her to place a quick kiss on her cheek.

My mother was your average housewife. She did most of the cooking and cleaning and I helped when I could. She was tall and gangly, with warm, brown eyes and curled, blond hair. She always wore the latest fashion and frequently held house parties for our neighbors. She was also a kick-ass cook. Anything she made, she made with tender love and care and it was the best damn food you'd ever have the privilege of tasting your whole life.

In the kitchen, my dad sat at the table, reading his daily newspaper. My dad was the opposite of my mom in most ways. Where she was tall a thin, he was shorter and had started to form somewhat of a beer belly. Being a mechanic, he wasn't exactly the cleanest cut man on the earth, but his personality made up for what he lacked. I swear, the man could improvise a story on command and do a hell of a job entertaining you.

He looked over the top of his newspaper when I sat down across from him.

"Just in time for dinner." He chuckled heartily.

"You know it," I chirped back, grinning. "Hey, mom. You kept the Christmas card Kathryn sent us a couple of years ago, right?"

"'Couse I did. It's in the box on top of the refrigerator." She replied, beginning to set the table. "What do you need it for?"

"I need Kathryn's old address." I got up out of my seat to retrieve the box full of old envelopes my mother kept 'just in case'.

_God Bless that woman. _I thought happily, sitting back down at the table to find the envelope. Just as I began shuffling through, the phone rang.

"I'll get it." My mom said, hurrying over to answer the phone.

"What do you need Kathy Ann's address for?" My dad asked, folding his paper up and setting it down on the table. "I thought you said she doesn't hang around there anymore."

"She doesn't. I haven't seen hide nor hair of her in a couple of days." I told him. "I think she might be at her folks', though. I think one of her brothers might have gotten sick or something. That's the only reason I could think of as to why she'd leave so suddenly."

"I hope everyone's okay." He replied, concern clearly evident in his voice.

I nodded, too engrossed in my search for the envelope to say anything.

"Who was it?" My dad asked as my mom made her way back into the kitchen.

"I don't know." She replied, pulling open the oven door. "There wasn't anyone on the line when I picked up the receiver."

"Strange." He quipped just before the phone began to ring again.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake!"

I looked up to see my mom rushing to pull a hot dish out of the oven. I got up, giggling at her antics.

"I'll get it, mom."

I made my way into the hallway and to our phone and picked the receiver up.

"Waller residence, Candice speaking."

I couldn't believe who answered.

_"C-Candice?"_ A familiar voice stammered. _"It's me, Kathryn."_

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><p><em>Sorry to end on another cliff-hanger (well, the same cliff-hanger, really)! xD At least you got to know Candice a little more, but you might have some questions about what the hell is going on with Kathryn's family. Don't worry, you'll get your answers. The next update should be posted within the next couple days. Please leave a review! They are much appreciated. Constructive criticism is also very much welcome!<em>


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